Sports are a form of direct conflict, like any other. You establish stakes. You introduce the players. You introduce the rules. You set the stage. The competition escalates to a decisive climax, in which two rival characters come head to head. Both have reasons to win, but only one is allowed to. Whether you’re describing a baseball game or the hunger games, both use the same foundations.

What makes Quidditch a bit different is the Snitch. Many have pointed out that because catching the snitch has such a massive point differential, it makes the quaffle goals feel inconsequential, and they’re mostly right. But, because the Snitch is such an important, game-deciding achievement, every game of quidditch leads up to a dramatic climax. If games of quidditch in the books always ended with one team in a 160+ point lead, so catching the snitch did nothing to the standings, it would be far less exciting.

This is what we often mean by ‘spectator sports.’ Competitions that are tailored to be exciting for the spectators, often at the expense of making the sport less fair for competitors.

If I may lean on media from the same era, Yu-Gi-Oh is a great case study for this. The manga/anime has all kinds of swingy nonsense and game-determinative plays that are exciting for the audience, even if they wouldn’t make for enjoyable gameplay. The actual card game, while still quite flashy, tones down or omits many of the cards that appear in the anime counterpart. This way, the game that appears in the show is a spectator sport, while the game that is played on the table is (hopefully) a healthier game.